Text: “But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem
me, and be merciful unto me.”
Psalm 26:11.
Good morning, worthy-walking Christian! When
your eyes open in the morning, you are conscious of your unworthiness in
comparison to our thrice Holy and Impeccable Lord God. Thus, your first
waking thought is on sincere prayer, often a brief muttered cry to the Lord in
private, that He will cleanse you from all sin; fill you afresh with God the
Holy Spirit; and enable you to walk worthy of His Son Jesus Christ throughout
the coming day.
This is what I personally
refer to as seeking to ’…walk worthy of Christ.’ - seeking to ‘walk in mine
integrity’ by the grace of a truly forgiving Lord God.
“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do
not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the
knowledge of His will in all wisdom and Spiritual understanding; that ye
might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in
every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of
God.” (Colossians
1:9-10J)
When we are Spiritually regenerated,’ born again’ of
the Spirit of God; ‘born from Above’, God the Holy Spirit - not some ’power
from God‘, but a full Person of the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost
that make up the Triune Godhead - condescends to live within the new nature
that has been created in us by the Lord.
We are indwelt by God Himself. Wow!
Startling news to some professing Christ, but not news at all to those of us who
are continually studying God’s inspired Word and learning more about Him and
His dealings with we, the children of mere men.
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit
will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
and I will give you a new heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgements, and
do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your
fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel
36:26-28)
Without this indwelling of God
the Spirit - forget about it! You and I are NOT saved, we are still lost
in our sins and on our way to a Christ-rejecter’s Hell! Fact!
Christian, it is time to get real about the state of our never-dying souls!
“So then they that are in the flesh cannot please
God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (capital S!), if so
be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he/she is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:8-11)
With these Scriptural facts in mind, therefore, we now
know WHY we genuine Christians are so conscious of having sinned; and why we
are progressively seeking sanctification FROM daily sins - that we might ‘walk
worthy’ of the Christ Who suffered and died for us to redeem us from our vile
sin. This is true Christian integrity.
Here is what Bishop J.C. Ryle penned in relation to our
subject of Spiritual indwelling and our need to walk worthy of the Living Lord
Jesus:
1. The Spirit awakens a person’s heart.
2. The Spirit teaches a person’s mind.
3. The Spirit leads to the Word.
4. The Spirit convinces of sin.
5. The Spirit draws to Christ.
6. The Spirit sanctifies.
7. The Spirit makes a person spiritually minded.
8. The Spirit produces inward conflict.
9. The Spirit makes a person love the brethren.
10. The Spirit teaches a person to pray.
These are the great marks of the Holy Spirit’s
Presence. Put the question to your conscience and ask: Has the Spirit done
anything of this kind for your soul?
~ Bishop John Charles Ryle (10 May 1816 – 10
June 1900)
As oil and water just will not mix - personal sin and
personal integrity in the Christian life will not prosper, but will most
certainly lead to shipwreck and ruin. Beware, ‘luke-warm’
Christian! Take heed those who may be toying with ‘secret sins’.
“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot;
I would thou wert cold or hot. So then (a conclusion from the risen
Christ) because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I
will spue thee out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-19)
As Pastor James McConnell taught in his church sermon
this morning in Belfast, “This is the only time we learn of the Lord Jesus
Christ ever being SICK!” The lukewarm state of the Laodicean church was
enough to make the Lord God ‘spue’ or vomit.
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